Terrorized By Numbers

The media reports Mideast casualties by lumping suicide bombers together with their innocent civilians.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been marred by many casualties on both sides. Between Oct. 2000 and June 2002, the war had killed 561 Israelis and 1,499 Palestinians.

But a new study claims that these numbers obscure the reality of the conflict, combining combatants with non-combatants, and suicide bombers with their civilian victims. Since much of the case swinging world opinion against Israel hinges on the perception that Israel has killed far more Palestinian innocents than vice versa, these numbers possess a political importance beyond simple accounting.

Since most Israelis serve in the Israeli military, it is easy to call an Israeli fatality a soldier.

The study, from the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), examined reports of deaths in order to go beyond a simplistic notation of civilians and non-civilians. It is a common differentiation, but one which obscures more than it enlightens. Since most Israelis serve in the Israeli military and remain active as reserves, it is easy to call an Israeli fatality a "soldier." On the other side, since the Intifada is essentially a low-intensity guerilla conflict, few members of groups like Hamas or Islamic Jihad can be classified as uniformed soldiers.

Hence, rather than fighting a semantic battle, the ICT tried to differentiate between combatants and non-combatants and to figure out who might have killed whom. Taking that into account, the ICT concluded that about 579 non-combatant Palestinians (just over 38 percent of all Palestinian casualties) were killed by Israelis and 433 non-combatant Israelis (about 80 percent of all Israeli casualties) were killed by Palestinians.

While Israeli casualties make up about 27 percent of the total fatalities (as they are usually reported in the media), they actually represent about 43 percent of the non-combatant fatalities.

When it comes to Palestinian fatalities, it is also important to note that it is not just the Israelis doing the killing. There has been a steady increase in the number of Palestinians killed, in one way or another, by their own side.

Approximately 189 Palestinians were killed while committing a suicide bombing, in "work accidents," in intra-Palestinian conflict, or as so-called "collaborators." These 189 fatalities do not even include "suicide shooters" -- Palestinians who attacked Israelis with the expectation of death, but did not specifically blow themselves up.

In addition, detailed Palestinian casualty reports usually emanate from Palestinian organizations or individuals, which have sometimes been characterized as biased or even fraudulent. Depending on where one reads about them, news accounts can vary dramatically. If the Israeli government maintained a precise record of every incident of weapon use, it might be possible to verify the status of more of the Palestinian casualties. No such record is available.

Defining Categories

So how did the researchers differentiate between combatants and non-combatants? They separated casualties into several different categories.

"Non-Combatants" were innocent bystanders -- or assumed to be so. The ICT included any casualties under the age of 13 in this category "as a matter of principle." 13.6 percent of Palestinian fatalities fell under this category, while 69 percent of Israeli ones did so.

Another great disproportion exists amongst noncombatants aged 40 and over, where 154 Israelis have been killed, compared to 69 Palestinians.

Many put themselves in danger, by entering a fighting zone.

The designation of "Probable Combatant" went to people killed "at a location and time during which" there was an armed confrontation, who are likely to have been an active participant, but not enough evidence exists to prove them as such. This category encompassed 0.4 percent of Israeli fatalities and 9.5 percent of Palestinian ones. The designation also was given to people who knowingly put themselves in danger, "such as entering an area in which fighting was going on or which security officials had declared off-limits."

Non-civilians who were not actively involved in an incident were labeled "Uniformed Non-Combatants." These fatalities included police and soldiers in uniform who were not at their post or on duty (9.6 percent of Israelis and 2.5 percent of Palestinians).

The designation of "Full Combatant" was reserved for active duty soldiers and terrorists, or civilians who "independently" chose "to perpetrate an armed attack on the opposing side." While only 20.1 percent of Israeli fatalities came under this category, 42.9 percent of Palestinian fatalities did so. Note that this does not include someone throwing rocks, though the researchers note that, if the rocks were large and dropped onto cars from a high bridge, the perpetrators would fall into this category. Similarly, a thrower of Molotov cocktails counts as a "full combatant." Of course, a civilian with a weapon in their car or walking with a holstered pistol is not a "full combatant" unless they draw that weapon.

The label of "Suspected Collaborator" is given to the 1.7 percent of Palestinians and 0.2 percent of Israelis who were targeted under (alleged) suspicion of aiding Israel.

Finally, the "Unknown" category encompassed 0.4 percent of Israeli fatalities and a quarter of Palestinian ones. In the final analysis, only "Violent Protestors," "Combatants" and "Probable Combatants" were included as combatants. All others, including the "Unknown" cases, counted as noncombatants.

What it Means

The ICT's study holds up to scrutiny and its proposed figures do indeed capture the casualties of the conflict more accurately than the traditional media accounting methods. The figures make a strong case that the Israelis have not noticeably targeted Palestinian noncombatants and that the Palestinians have overwhelmingly targeted noncombatants.

39% of Israeli noncombatants casualties are re female, compared to only 7% of Palestinians.

Those who would charge the Israelis with indiscriminately targeting women and children have little evidence to back up their argument in these figures. While 39 percent of the Israeli noncombatants killed by Palestinians were female, only about 7 percent of the Palestinian noncombatants killed by Israelis were female. Although children appear more prominently among the Palestinian fatalities, combatant and noncombatant, most were teenage boys (over the age of 11).

The ICT explains the pattern of Palestinian fatalities by pointing out that Palestinian men and boys on the brink of manhood "engaged in behavior that brought them into conflict with Israeli armed forces" and should have been aware "that they were placing themselves" in danger. In addition, the ICT suggests that Palestinian efforts at "indoctrination" which glorify "martyrdom" encourage Palestinian teenage boys and young men to take such risks.

In order to check against any kind of pro-Israeli bias in the ICT's methodology, I asked their researcher, Don Radlauer, to apply it to a more recent and highly publicized incident. On July 22, an Israeli air strike against the home of Hamas military leader Salah Shehada killed him and 14 others. Radlauer said, "the two Hamas members who were killed would both be classified as Full Combatants, as they were terrorist leaders actively involved in planning and organizing attacks. All the other victims would be considered Noncombatants."

He emphasized that Israel was considered fully responsible for all the fatalities. If these numbers gain wide acceptance as a truer depiction of what is happening in Israel than the numbers more usually quoted, their effect on public opinion worldwide could be dramatic. They seem to tell us a lot more about the nature of the conflict than has been possible before.

Media Bias

Unfair reporting of the casualty count has long been a thorn in the side of media watch groups. Last year, the New York Times published an illustrated graph, comparing Jewish deaths and Arab deaths in the conflict. Many readers wrote to complain that the graph was misleading, and the response from Bill Borders of the Times was surprisingly curt and dismissive: "The graphs are correct because everyone that they count as dead is in fact dead. All of them."

Teen Newsweek, a magazine distributed to middle school students across America, published a chart illustrating the number of Palestinian and Israeli children killed since 1987. The Palestinian numbers, represented in bright red, many times exceed Israeli losses, shown in a less visible yellow. There is no explanation of circumstances how these children died. The implication is that there is equivalency -- even though the Palestinian children were killed while attempting martyrdom in the context of violent attacks on Israeli forces, while the Israeli children were killed while sitting on a public bus or in a cafe, blown up by a Palestinian suicide bomber.

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About the Author

Howard Fienberg is senior analyst with the Statistical Assessment Service(www.stats.org), a nonprofit nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C.. Howard is also editor of Kesher Talk http://www.hfienberg.com/kesher, the
Jewish Web Log.This article was originally published on TechCentralStation.com.

Visitor Comments: 4

(4)
Anonymous,
September 25, 2002 12:00 AM

justifying murder

RE: The media reports Mideast casualties by lumping suicide bombers together with their innocent civilians. A new study breaks the myth.

it seems this article is justifying the murders of palestinians. I'm not sure if i understood it all correctly, i hope i didn't. Because from my understandings you are saying that one life has lesser value than another? Give me a break please, one life has the same value as another. A life is a life.

(3)
Jeff Pomykala,
September 11, 2002 12:00 AM

Unfortunately.....

In response to Debra Monasch's comment:
Debra, though I, too, wished the media could get this information, it HAS been tried ~~ and falls on ears deafened by the idiotic moral relativism of our times. As a member of www.honestreporting.com, I recieved an email from them inre a response from the editor of the Washington Post to one of HonestReporting's members who tried to show him these exact numbers in order to get them to recant on a biased article. The response...:
"Dead is Dead....The Washington Post stands by it's story."
So, you see, those who can only think in the shallowness of moral relativism WILL NOT see real truth. Dead is dead ~~ and they don't care how the people on either side died. Such is the idiocy of the extremist liberals who are against Israel, and who, paradoxically, many American Jews support in their blind support of the Democratic party which has moved further and further to the extreme left as the moral relativists gain power.
I urge each and every one of you to visit the below websites:

www.honestreporting.com
www.memri.org

Both places provide further links.
GET INVOLVED!! Educate yourself then go out and educate the world! ~ AND VOTE!

May there be true peace in Israel - soon.

(2)
Anonymous,
August 12, 2002 12:00 AM

Thank you for the information

Thank you for the information.

(1)
Debra Monasch,
August 11, 2002 12:00 AM

I am hoping and praying that someone has the ability to get this information to the major US newspapers, television news departments,etc. Sadly, I doubt this news would be reported. But it would prove just how biased US news is when it comes to reporting the true facts. It's a little backwards that I must rely upon foreign sources for accurate information, rather than domestic US newspapers, one of which prides itself on publishing "All the news that's fit to print." (NY Times)

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I'm told that it's a mitzvah to become intoxicated on Purim. This puzzles me, because to my understanding, it is not considered a good thing to become intoxicated, period.

One of the characteristics of the at-risk youth is their use of drugs, including alcohol. In my experience, getting drunk doesn't reveal secrets. It makes people act stupid and irresponsible, doing things they would never do if they were sober. Also, I know a lot about the horrible health effects of abusing alcohol, because I work at a research center that focuses on addiction and substance abuse.

Also, I am an alcoholic, which means that if I drink, very bad things happen. I have not had a drink in 22 years, and I have no intention of starting now. Surely there must be instances where a person is excused from the obligation to drink. I don't see how Judaism could ever promote the idea of getting drunk. It just doesn't seem right.

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Putting aside for a moment all the spiritual and philosophical reasons for getting drunk on Purim, this remains an issue of common sense. Of course, teenagers should be warned of the dangers of acute alcohol ingestion. Of course, nobody should drink and drive. Of course, nobody should become so drunk to the point of negligence in performing mitzvot. And of course, a recovering alcoholic should not partake of alcohol on Purim.

Indeed, the Code of Jewish Law explicitly says that if one suspects the drinking may affect him negatively, then he should NOT drink.

Getting drunk on Purim is actually one of the most difficult mitzvot to do correctly. A person should only drink if it will lead to positive spiritual results - e.g. under the loosening affect of the alcohol, greater awareness will surface of the love for God and Torah found deep in the heart. (Perhaps if we were on a higher spiritual level, we wouldn't need to get drunk!)

Yet the Talmud still speaks of an obligation on Purim of "not knowing the difference between Blessed is Mordechai and Cursed is Haman." How then should a person who doesn't drink get the point of “not knowing”? Simple - just go to sleep! (Rama - OC 695:2)

All this applies to individuals. But the question remains - does drinking on Purim adversely affect the collective social health of the Jewish community?

The aversion to alcoholism is engrained into Jewish consciousness from a number of Biblical and Talmudic sources. There are the rebuking words of prophets - Isaiah 28:1, Hosea 3:1 with Rashi, and Amos 6:6, and the Zohar says that "The wicked stray after wine" (Midrash Ne'alam Parshat Vayera).

It is well known that the rate of alcoholism among Jews has historically been very low. Numerous medical, psychological and sociological studies have confirmed this. The connection between Judaism and sobriety is so evident, that the following conversation is reported by Lawrence Kelemen in "Permission to Receive":

When Dr. Mark Keller, editor of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, commented that "practically all Jews do drink, and yet all the world knows that Jews hardly ever become alcoholics," his colleague, Dr. Howard Haggard, director of Yale's Laboratory of Applied Physiology, jokingly proposed converting alcoholics to the Jewish religion in order to immerse them in a culture with healthy attitudes toward drinking!

Perhaps we could suggest that it is precisely because of the use of alcohol in traditional ceremonies (Kiddush, Bris, Purim, etc.), that Jews experience such low rates of alcoholism. This ceremonial usage may actually act like an inoculation - i.e. injecting a safe amount that keeps the disease away.

Of course, as we said earlier, all this needs to be monitored with good common sense. Yet in my personal experience - having been in the company of Torah scholars who were totally drunk on Purim - they acted with extreme gentleness and joy. Amid the Jewish songs and beautiful words of Torah, every year the event is, for me, very special.

Adar 12 marks the dedication of Herod's renovations on the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 11 BCE. Herod was king of Judea in the first century BCE who constructed grand projects like the fortresses at Masada and Herodium, the city of Caesarea, and fortifications around the old city of Jerusalem. The most ambitious of Herod's projects was the re-building of the Temple, which was in disrepair after standing over 300 years. Herod's renovations included a huge man-made platform that remains today the largest man-made platform in the world. It took 10,000 men 10 years just to build the retaining walls around the Temple Mount; the Western Wall that we know today is part of that retaining wall. The Temple itself was a phenomenal site, covered in gold and marble. As the Talmud says, "He who has not seen Herod's building, has never in his life seen a truly grand building."

Some people gauge the value of themselves by what they own. But in reality, the entire concept of ownership of possessions is based on an illusion. When you obtain a material object, it does not become part of you. Ownership is merely your right to use specific objects whenever you wish.

How unfortunate is the person who has an ambition to cleave to something impossible to cleave to! Such a person will not obtain what he desires and will experience suffering.

Fortunate is the person whose ambition it is to acquire personal growth that is independent of external factors. Such a person will lead a happy and rewarding life.

With exercising patience you could have saved yourself 400 zuzim (Berachos 20a).

This Talmudic proverb arose from a case where someone was fined 400 zuzim because he acted in undue haste and insulted some one.

I was once pulling into a parking lot. Since I was a bit late for an important appointment, I was terribly annoyed that the lead car in the procession was creeping at a snail's pace. The driver immediately in front of me was showing his impatience by sounding his horn. In my aggravation, I wanted to join him, but I saw no real purpose in adding to the cacophony.

When the lead driver finally pulled into a parking space, I saw a wheelchair symbol on his rear license plate. He was handicapped and was obviously in need of the nearest parking space. I felt bad that I had harbored such hostile feelings about him, but was gratified that I had not sounded my horn, because then I would really have felt guilty for my lack of consideration.

This incident has helped me to delay my reactions to other frustrating situations until I have more time to evaluate all the circumstances. My motives do not stem from lofty principles, but from my desire to avoid having to feel guilt and remorse for having been foolish or inconsiderate.

Today I shall...

try to withhold impulsive reaction, bearing in mind that a hasty act performed without full knowledge of all the circumstances may cause me much distress.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...